Can I Use My Child's Sunscreen

An important question that mothers have asked me is “Can I use my child’s sunscreen on myself?” and the answer is of course you can and the opposite is true as well, adult sunscreens can be used on children. To my understanding there is no difference between adult sunscreen and children’s sunscreen, all sunscreens are very regulated by the FDA and whatever that SPF value is that an adult gets the child will get the same value and the same goes for the value in children’s sunscreens for adults.

So to my understanding it is only a marketing technique that separates sunscreens for kids and sunscreens for adults.

When you have children or you're visiting a house of someone who does, during the summer there's usually children's sunscreen laying around. Dr. Schultz will let you know whether or not kids sunscreen is also effective for adults.

My thought about sunscreen for children or babies is that the screens/blocks might be placed into a formulation that is gentler than the standard screens (many of them advertise this, anyway). Therefore, if you have sensitive skin or break out from regular sunscreens, the ones made for babies and little kids might be worth trying. I would be interested in hearing the doctor's opinion on this aspect, even though the SPF protection is obviously no different.

Neal Schultz, M.D. on September 18, 2009 at 6:30pm

@Dawn: I agree that anything formulated for babies and children’s skin is apt to be very gentle, but I would want to believe that sunscreens formulated for adults with normal skin would also be gentle since they also are tested for potential irritancy. It then follows that if you have sensitive skin or get "rashy" (as opposed to acne) breakouts from some adult sunscreens, then sunscreens for children would seem appropriate. But the newer Chem-Free sunscreens (whether for children or adults) are very gentle and are also appropriate for sensitive skin.